A guitarist that relies on expressing himself solely through his weapon of choice faces a mighty heavy burden. There are those great and gifted masters of the instrument that have a vocalist by their sides. Then there are those who double their duties by choosing to sing while slinging their axes. Then there's Jeff Beck. Arguably the best of the best, Beck has rightfully earned his place as the most dynamic, entertaining and jaw-dropping master of the guitar for several decades. The wildly appreciative and vocal crowd at Clearwater's Ruth Eckerd Hall on Friday night knew exactly who the true wizard of the Fender Stratocaster is. And they were treated to a truly mesmerizing performance by the Hall of Fame guitarist in grand style.
Walking out to a dramatically lit stage just before 9 p.m., Beck quickly whipped the crowd into a frenzy. Opening with the funky, wailing sounds of "Plan B," it was easy to see and feel the type of performance the crowd was in store for. Not one to ham it up or showboat, one of Beck's many admirable traits is the fact that he carefully, coolly and calmly unleashes his prowess like no other guitarist before or since his emergence on the British music scene in the mid 1960's. Jeff Beck is the quiet, low-key mad scientist that never really gives an indication of where he's going on the wild journey he takes his audiences on nightly. Often referred to as a private and reclusive individual off-stage, Beck's charm and enthusiasm make up for his lack of verbal interaction with a theater full of followers. And no one seemed to care. The extent of Jeff's musings between songs on Friday night was the occasional "Thank you!" or introductions of the three other outstanding musicians he shared the stage with. As cliched as it sounds, it's true: Jeff Beck doesn't have to talk (or sing for that matter)- he expresses himself a whole lot more effectively and impressively through his guitar.
What other instrumentalist can hold an audience completely captive, inspire them to stand and scream, pump their fists and air guitar frenetically for 100 minutes? No one else but Jeff Beck.
Hopping through genres with precision and ease, Beck treated the crowd to selections as diverse as a lovely, gut-wrenching version of "Over The Rainbow" to the swing jazz of Les Paul's "How High The Moon" to the plaintive, inspiring Impressions R'n'B classic, "People Get Ready." Awesomely displaying the range of his arsenal all evening, Beck more than showed us the scope of his skills and talents. The showstopper, however, was his soaring rendition of the Beatles epic, "A Day In The Life." None of the song's many nuances and time changes were lost within Beck and band's magnificent reading.
And in a fine example of the old boss passing the torch to the new boss, Beck invited young upstart and opening act Tyler Bryant to join him for a rip-roaring version of Sly and the Family Stone's "I Want To Take You Higher." Bryant, who had opened the evening's performance with an impressive 35-minute acoustic set, got to strap on an electric guitar for his walk-on during Beck's encore and looked downright thrilled to be sharing the stage with his idol. The "young whippersnapper" as Beck referred to him wowed the crowd himself with his own set.
As promised in an interview I conducted with him a few days before the show, Bryant delivered a less-than-predictable set with the aid of only his acoustic guitar played clearly through an electric guitar amp and his powerful, raspy vocals. Clad in a faded, tattered John Coltrane t-shirt, torn jeans and high-top sneakers, the 20-year old Bryant looked the part of the rock star and treated an unsuspecting crowd to his own style of guitar heroism that they are sure to not forget anytime soon.
What made the evening so memorable, however, was not only the rare chance to see the wizardry of Beck live and in person, but to see the extent of the impact he's had on so many fans and fellow musicians, most notably the up-and-coming guitar-slinger Tyler Bryant.
Talent, showmanship and style are elements that will always make an capable guitarist a great one. And as rare as that type of artist is, those lucky enough to check out Friday night's show (or Saturday night's repeat performance) were treated to two amazing performances from two of the best.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2011.
